FrogPrincesse

Has anybody attended the Taste of the Market event earlier this month? There is another event coming up next month that I am going to attend as a kickstarter support since I was not able to attend the first one. There are tickets available for sale here.

First lunch from MIHO in a long time. Shimp po'boy with battered & fried wild mexican shrimp, kumquat remoulade, pickled red onion, local baguette. They got me at the "kumquat remoulade" which was great with the shrimp. It was nice to have some acidity from the pickled onion. Overall this combo worked really well.

Thanks! Sometimes the classics are the best.

I am very sad to report that the Petit Marguery that I have frequented for years and loved seems to be a thing of the past. This used to be such a perfect example of a traditional Parisian restaurant with an old-fashioned decor, impeccable service, and well-executed classic dishes. During my visit last week, the staff was new and seemed very confused (did not offer to take care of our heavy winter coats right away, forgot one of the desserts, etc, etc). The food was only average and prices on the high side. My mother had a similar experience a few weeks ago so this was not just an "off" night. This is very sad. The clueless service was especially disconcerting and became an annoyance. On the other hand, I have discovered a new place nearby that is very nice (short review to come).

50:50 Martini the other night with Beefeater, Noilly Prat, Fee and Regan's orange bitters, and a grapefruit twist. Olives best on the side, together with some Norcino salame from Olli.

Hugo Ensslin's Chrysanthemum with the ratios from PDT. A nice change of pace with dry vermouth as the base. The anise from the absinthe (or pastis in my base) blends with the other flavors and doesn't dominate. Very aromatic with a long finish.

A new book by eG member Kevin Liu, Craft Cocktails at Home: Offbeat Techniques, Contemporary Crowd-Pleasers, and Classics Hacked with Science, just came out. Has anybody read it? From its table of contents, it looks like it would be an interesting read with a science-based approach to cocktail-making.

Catching up with all the amazing posts on this thread. I am very intrigued by Soba's beet vinegar. What does the end product taste like? I would love to try this!

Very nice report earlofego, and welcome to eGullet! Did you also try Ciociaro on its own in the Brunswick cocktail, or did you feel that it needed the 50/50 mix with Torani to work?

That one has a sneaky flavor. You might be tempted to think that it's going to be a citrusy Manhattan-style cocktail (that's what I thought the first time I saw looked at the ingredients), but it ends up being more like an herbal whiskey sour. Nice pics. Beautiful color on that Communist. Thank you Mike! I agree, the Derby Cocktail seems to belong in the sour family, despite the presence of vermouth.

I wasn't sure whether it made sense to post this under "Lillet", "Cocchi Americano" or "Pierre Ferrand's Dry Curaçao" but in the end, since the Corpse Reviver No. 2 first appeared in the Savoy Cocktail book, I decided to include this information here. I did a 2x2 CR No. 2 side-by-side tasting with Cointreau and Pierre Ferrand dry curacao, Lillet and Cocchi Americano. The Cointreau versions had a more complete orange flavor (juice, rind, etc) resulting in a brighter drink, whereas the Dry Curacao version emphasized the bitter orange notes (not very surprising). What was interesting was that the Lillet versions had more lemon than orange notes. Using Cocchi enhanced the orange flavors which gave an impression of sweetness (this was surprising to me since Cocchi is more bitter than Lillet on its own). Often with this kind of experiments, there is one version that I immediately prefer. In that case, there was no clear winner. They were all good with slightly different personalities. Maybe a slight preference for the Cocchi version, but I would be perfectly happy with any of these (and no I did not attempt downing all four "in swift succession"!).

Then last night we tried the Preakness Cocktail. Another Manhattan variation, this time with just the addition the Benedictine (therefore like a Creole without Picon). I found it a little more bitter than the Creole, maybe because it did not have the orange flavor to round things off, but I thought that it was great how you could tease some much flavor out of the Templeton (which was quite subdued on its own) by adding a touch of Benedictine.

More rye cocktails with Benedictine (no Peychaud's for these, I made sure to double and triple check!) First, the Creole Cocktail. It's a Manhattan with Benedictine and Amer Picon (Picon bière in my case). So obviously you get a lot of the orange flavor from the Picon. There were also some unexpected chocolate notes. More spice/bite than the Vieux Carré (in a good way). Again the Templeton worked nicely in that drink.

As promised here is the Negroni battle, Tempus Fugit's Gran Classico Bitter (originally from Turin but made in Switzerland) vs. Campari. Neat first Equal parts (mini) Negroni with an orange coin On its own, Gran Classico is not as intense as the Campari. Campari has a much brighter orange flavor (similar a little bit to Cointreau vs. PF dry curacao). And the color is the other obvious difference. The Gran Classico Negroni was more herbal and had a syrup-like quality, almost like honey, that is not there in the Campari version. The orange flavor in the Gran Classico Negroni was more subtle and overall it was a toned-down Negroni with a slightly sweet finish. I thought my husband may like it (he abhors Campari) and very bravely he had a sip, but it was still too bitter for him. In comparison, the Campari Negroni starts extremely bright and continues with an intense orange flavor, some sweetness, and a memorable bitter finish that makes you long for another sip. Campari is the clear winner for me in the Negroni. But I am sure that I will find other uses for the Gran Classico. It may be time to revisit the Boulevardier, Old Pal, Left Hand, Right Hand, and so on. Or maybe as an Aperol alternative?

You are very welcome Dejah. Nice looking soup! I was lucky to have ginger that was very fresh and particularly fragrant, so I did not need to add anything else.

Avant-Garde Ale (Lost Abbey). Beautiful golden orange color. Some citrus with a lot of complex flavors that keep coming and surprising you. I detected green apple, butter, bread, herbs and spice. Great texture. A very long and slightly bitter finish. I am a fan.

San Diego Magazine just published an interview with Erick Castro from Polite Provisions, together with a link to a very promising drink menu. They are scheduled to open next week.

Just a quick note that Bottlecraft has just opened a second store in Normal Heights. It's around the corner from Urban Solace on University. I had a chance to visit this weekend and they have a great selection of local and non-local beers. I picked up a few local beers (Lost Abbey, AleSmith, The Bruery) and some Belgian beers as well.

I am about to try that experiment at home very soon. I will make sure to report my findings!

I want to make these.. what buns did you use? I used caramelized onion rolls from a local bakery. I have a craving for pork burgers all of a sudden :-)

I'm in for the Saturday dinner. I will bring my cocktail gear!

Are you making cocktails for us to go with the dinner on the Saturday of the chocolate workshop? Great idea :-) I am sipping on something right now that happens to have a ton of unexpected chocolate notes. This should be fun!

Excellent! I use El Dorado 5 in tiki cockails. Recent uses: Ancient Mariner, Navy Grog. It's a really good deal at less than $20 a bottle.

Sounds like a plan! (I think I see a line forming at the door...)

The tomato sauce with olive oil and chopped vegetables from the Essentials, served with linguine. It was nice to have some texture in the sauce. I liked the taste too; it was a little sweet from the carrots and quite rich thanks to the liberal amount of olive oil.